A Critical Discourse Analysis of Job Advertisement Discourses

【Abstract】There are heated discussion on the critical discourse analysis. Most scientists hold their own views that we can hardly define it in one simple sentence. When we get the word discourse， it will certainly lead us to the language-in-use which is also changing with no limitations. And this paper will try to narrow down the boundaries to a job advertisement. Dissect the culture influence， even the hegemony with the comparison of some words in Chinese. To get a further understanding about this CDA （critical discourse analysis）.

【Key words】critical discourse analysis； culture； influence； hegemony

【作者簡(jiǎn)介】譚炯，杭州萬(wàn)向職業(yè)技術(shù)學(xué)院。

Critical Discourse Analysis is not the collocation of terms now common in cultural studies research， terms which have lost their histories in the translation into a cultural study where one suspects that few， any longer， ever actually read the primary texts and research from which they were derived.

Discourse builds objects， worlds， minds and social relations. It does not just reflect them. Comparatively， objects get their meaning by discourse analysis， not language itself. Just take “money” for example， the word itself didnt provide any meaning， only with human activities and some culture backgrounds can it be meaningful. In most cases， it will be regarded as something valuable， or the exchange for power， rights， chances， etc. That mainly because of our human activities. Text producing was based on history， culture and social practice. When we use the word “money”， varieties meaning can be expressed in different circumstances. And it is the discourse analysis that can make us reach the objectives. Thus， in some degree， discourses are more constructive than language itself. Discourse studies the language in use， in the following context， some examples will be raised to talk about the discourse analysis critically and try to trace the relations in cultural backgrounds with the deconstruction of discourses.

Discourses—socially accepted associations among ways of using language， of thinking， valuing， acting， and interacting， in the ‘right places and at the ‘right times with ‘right objects （associations that can be used to identify oneself as a member of a socially meaningful group or ‘social network（Gee）.

Critical linguistics was concerned to read the meanings in texts as the realization of social processes， seeing texts as functioning ideologically and politically in relation to their contexts. This was very much an approach in which discourse was text， but there was too little emphasis on the production and interpretation of texts， a too ready assumption of the transparent relationship between textual features and social meanings and a neglect of discourse as a domain of social struggle or of the ways in which changes in discourse might be related to wider processes of social and cultural change. There was also a typical Marxist top-down view of ideology and power and an emphasis on social structure rather than social action， social reproduction rather than social transformation （Fairclough 1992）.

Here is an employment advertisement， whose intertextuality will be analyzed to announce the hegemony and the inequality in it. Moreover， dissect the ideology and the culture influence critically throughout the discourses.

Customer Service Manager

Job Description：

GENERAL FUNCTION： Position responsible and accountable for the day-to-day operations， and risk management of the financial center. Role has direct management responsibilities for the operational and referral activities of the customer service representative （CSR） and financial service representative （FSR） staff. Responsible for managing a fund of cash and processing a variety of consumer， commercial and other transactions for customers and the public.

1.Manager/HR Function

A.Direct and delegate the activities of the CSR and FSR staff to ensure professional， timely and proficient customer service.

B.Develop the CSR/FSR staff through training， and coaching for premier delivery of customer care.

2.Operations

Perform daily office/operational responsibilities， delegating to the staff as appropriate， and keep the Financial Center Manager updated on the operation of the office.

B.Maintain a personal balancing record that is in line with policy； Monitor regularly the balancing performance of the CSR/FSR staff and can find and correct outages and to enlist help as needed for more difficult errors.

Job Requirements

MINIMUM KNOWLEDGE， SKILLS AND ABILITIES REQUIRED： Work involves contact with the public， necessitating the ability to present a professional image. Work requires the ability to properly read and write well enough to communicate in both oral and written form. Work involves extensive cash handling， which requires ability to perform basic math functions. Position requires an in-depth knowledge of retail policies， procedures and banking center systems to perform duties with minimal supervision， which is usually acquired with minimum of two （2） years of banking center experience.

It is an employment ad.， which is certainly consist of two parts： job description and job requirements. Now， lets firstly consult the job description. Here is the customer service manager wanted. The duties of this title include three parts， as weve mentioned above： general function and the actual responsibilities on Manager/HR and operation. Western enterprises prefer a clearer responsibility limitations. In other words， they would like to define their duties textually. Thus， we can obviously follow those duties one by one. And it will surly helpful to the evaluation when you do job statements at the end of a certain period. In details， take the “general function” part for example：”Responsible for managing a fund of cash and processing a variety of consumer” is quite precisely. It shows that as a customer service manager， you should manage the fund of cash and process customers. While most of our Chinese ads would say that “provide cash supporting and think about customers needs”. This discourse shows the coexistence of different social ideology， nations and sects in all ages. Thus， we know authors would mark the boundaries of the discourse， and predict the readers discourse. Diversity of speech includes ideology and independence in various degree. This pointed out text itself has no meaning but combine with the others. And it will certainly lead to the intertextuality.

According to the intertextuality， we should combine those texts with discourse， culture and social background. Different discourse， speech and customs formed our text. Go back to the example “process customers”， with the development of language， the word “process” owns lots of meaning in the long history. Because of the intertextuality， combine with the backgrounds， weve finally got the meaning “treat”， as a kind of discourse. Another point I have mentioned above is that author marked the boundaries of the discourse. He， who has a totally different culture background and speech habit， provides us the “process” instead of “think about”， which is obviously based on a Chinese speech habit.

Intertextuality， as a combination of variety kinds of discourse， genre and style， reflects hegemony in discourse. In fact， hegemony is everywhere， like education， family， advertisement and so on. It can be produced or transferred in discourse. Here discourse practice forms the main aspect in those hegemony struggles. In our example， the job advertisement， owns a very typical feature of advertisement. The main aim is to hire a right employee. it is an advertising discourse （or we can call it an advertising genre）. On the other hand， it refers to the inner relationship between employer and employee. In the ad， phrases like “work requires” or “work involves” are appeared very often. Employer who offered this advertisement seem to prefer a superior status in this discourse. Theyd rather give orders than do negotiations with their staffs. The hegemony in the discourse is appeared everywhere. But we should notice that there is a “be able to” follow “must”. This greatly weaken the hegemony of the discourse， moreover， combine the managing discourse with advertising discourse. Thus， well find that the variety of the discourse reflect the change of speech， power and genre. After carrying out the analysis， we find that no matter how objective and authentic the job advertisement is claimed to be， ideology is inevitably concealed in it. In an effort of conducting a critical interpretation of advertisement discourse， the paper provides a possibility of developing a different way of reading and understanding advertisement discourse and a possibility for readers to cultivate critical language awareness so that the individual will be able to read carefully to discount the bias and see through to the world. In sum， by articulating the discourse of authority through that of the job responsibilities and advertisement structures， it was successfully effected a conflation of hegemony in the traditional sense of the word with an extended hegemony resulting from the transgression of the authorial authority.

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